We all know that Australia can be a pretty scary place because of its frightening wildlife. But we ensure that you don’t even know half of it. Here are 5 of Australia’s most scary inhabitants. Check them out, maybe you’ll catch some when visiting this country.
Australian Magpie – Australia’s Most Scary Creatures
Australian magpies usually appear in spring. You can meet them in the outskirts along the shores of Western Australia, New South Wales, and Queensland. When you wander around and enjoy the fresh air, these white and 40-centimeter-long black birds could suddenly swoop in.
It might stick on your clothes with its sharp talons and even stab at your eyes. And this situation occurs a lot. In 2017, there were over 520 injuries and 3200 attacks from magpies in this country.
Magpies are highly territorial, as a result, they swoop aggressively to defend their chicks. But these birds rarely attack humans, except for those that have their nests near cycling routes. These attacks happen because these birds learned it from human behavior. It’s hard to believe, right? But it’s true since magpies are truly social.
Paralysis Ticks
Actually, there are ticks around the world. And of course, they are not everyone’s go-to animals since all they do is grab onto your body and stink your blood.
But in Australia, especially on the eastern coasts, you can meet the paralysis tick which can do something much more dreadful. These ticks might make you allergic to meat.
Just like other kinds of ticks, these creatures jump off blades of grass onto mammals to look for a delicious blood meal. Besides the toxins, paralysis ticks also put all of their toxic chemicals hanging out in their saliva into bitten subjects. These toxic substances can be pathogens that cause severe illnesses such as typhus’s Australian version or Q fever.
Therefore, people call these ticks “paralysis ticks”. But most peculiar of all is the spit of these ticks consists of a kind of carbohydrate. This element is also found in red meats. And when you have too many tick bites, you might become sensitive to this carbohydrate. In another word, it means that you might face a mammalian meat allergy.
Centipedes – Australia’s Most Scary Creatures
The giant centipedes in Australia are so frightening. They have 16 cm long and are seen everywhere in Australia.
Their two front legs are their hunting tools. These legs not only cause a powerful bite but also put venom into their victim’s body. The amount of poison in their venom is so strong that it can kill a snake or a small lizard.
Though the bites from these centipedes aren’t always able to beat our size, still, they do hurt.
Strychnine Tree
You will know it’s the strychnine tree when you see it’s full of look-like harmless white flowers and orange-like fruit. However, those charming flowers and tasty fruit house the harmful, nitrogen-rich compound. That’s also the reason why this tree has its name.
Strychnine is an alkaloid just like nicotine and caffeine. Ancestors had used it in conventional medicines for ages. However, it’s the main ingredient in some types of rat poison as well.
As strychnine reduces that calming ability, the neurons fire more easily. Symptoms begin with stiffness and muscle soreness then can quickly escalate to convulsions or even seizures. If the toxin impacts your lungs or heart, then your probability of survival goes down fast.
So, Australian trees are just like Australian animals, they’re not the things you can count on.
Cone Snails – Australia’s Most Scary Creatures
If you get a chance to go undersea diving in Australia, remember to just enjoy the waves. Do not touch any appealing conical snail shells you catch. These hunting snails can probably spear you with their toxic harpoons if you get close to them.
Australia has the unique Queen Victoria Cone. It means that this country is the only place you can see these ghastly gastropods.
The venoms of cone snail venoms consist of many different conotoxins. These amino acids can cause trouble to neuronal signaling, then finally paralyzing their prey.
If you tread on them, you might feel like you’ve got a bee-like sting. Then, the stung part will go numb and turn blue since it lacks blood flow. Your limb could become paralyzed for a while, and you might experience blurry vision. Or even worse, you might feel faint and have trouble breathing when the venom spreads. But the good news is that death made by these creatures’ bites is super rare.
So, please think twice before collecting any souvenirs from the sea floor.
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